By: Denise N. Fyffe.
Copyright © 2014, Denise N. Fyffe

Backgammon is one of the oldest board games; much older than Chess and Go. This game is played by people of varying ages, nationalities and culture. Commonly the game is played by two or more persons; with each player attempting to get rid of all their pieces from off the board.

There are several components used to play a Backgammon game. These include a Backgammon board, fifteen checker pieces for each player, two or four six sided die, doubling cube, and an opponent. Players of today will discover Backgammon on the back of checkers boards; as both games use similar pieces.  Backgammon games are also played online. Hence, you opponent can sometimes be a computer programme or a player in a different part of the world.

Now unto the rules of the Backgammon game. The board’s opposing sides have triangles that are drawn on them. These triangles are called points and are numbered from one to twenty four. The home board and outer board range from points one to six and seven to twelve, respectively. A vertical bar separates both sides of the board. The pieces that are taken by each player are kept until they return into the game.

The checker pieces are set up on the board in a certain manner. Two of the pieces are placed on point twenty four, three pieces on point eight, five pieces placed on six and five pieces on point thirteen. This adds up to thirty pieces of checkers on the board. Both players will get a chance to roll the die, and the competitor with the highest throw will begin the game. If both participants throw the same value die, they will get a chance to throw again.

The objective of the Backgammon game is to reach the inner side of the board. This will eliminate them from the game. The game is played counter clockwise, throwing the dice and moving your pieces the amount of time dictated by your throw. As you are using two dice, you can move up to two pieces on the board at each throw. Or you may choose to move one piece two times. Throwing doubles gives any player the opportunity to move more times, or more up to four pieces. For instance, if a player throws double six, he can move one piece six places, or up to four pieces six places each.

There aren’t many limitations in a . These limitations govern where on the board you can move and how you can move your checker pieces. Players can only move to a higher number and not to a lower numbered point. Also, pieces can only be moved to empty spaces, spaces that have only your pieces, or a point that has only one of your opponents’ pieces. In the latter instance, you would have captured your competitor’s piece, which can be removed to the bar. If your pieces are captured, then you are not allowed to move any other piece until they are back in play. The first player to move all their pieces to the inner board and remove them from the game will be the winner.